One of Us
by TheInkredibleHanny
Summary: My story of what happens after Mel comes back. Is there a traitor in the caves? Read and Review, please!
1. Chapter 1

**a/n: Do you guys love the host? Its one of my favorite books. So one day I was just thinking, what would happen after Mel came back? I know Stephenie is working on the next book, which I am sooo pumped about, but I was just day dreaming and writing down what I could see as the next chapter in Melanie's life. Tell me if you like! Enjoy! **

I refused to fade away.

That's why I'm still here. In this near impossible situation, that I would have never dreamed I would be in, but am in anyway. But I'm still here, in my own body, with my own mind. No one else is here with me.

Well, no one else is here with me in my body. Jared Howe's breathing was slow and even with sleep. He didn't snore, which was just one more of the many things that I loved about him. I buried my face deeper into his chest, breathing in the scent of him, his own scent. Nothing could compare.

Jared looked so peaceful when he sleeps, just like I remember him. He always had that small grin when he was sleeping, a frown no where in sight on his beautiful tanned face. His arms unconsciously tightened around me, making me feel like I was being engulfed by invisible flames where his bare skin touched mine.

I trailed my fingers down Jared's sides. It amazed me how even now, after everything we've been through, it still felt like there was a flat sun pressed between Jared and I, making my skin tingle and my heart pick up it's pace.

Jared responded to my touch, and his eyes snapped open to lock gazes with me. We were so close that, even in the dark room we were sleeping in, I could still see the gold flecks in his eyes, gazing intently at me. "What? What is it, Mel?" he asked, trying to shake himself out of his drowsiness.

I shook my head. "Nothing. I just couldn't sleep. Bad dream," I said, trying to put on a smile to reassure him that it was no big deal.

"Bad dreams?" Jared echoed, sounding disturbed no matter how much I meant to calm him down.

"You scared them away," I said, smiling and snuggling closer to him, though I wasn't sure how I could get any closer. I could feel the contours of his bare stomach through the thin layer of my white spaghetti-strap tank.

Jared sighed, but otherwise ignored that comment completely. "What were they about?" he asked, stroking my back softly, painting my spine with flames.

I shook my head. No way was I going to tell him how weak I was, how I still have nightmares about the things that all seemed silly now compared to the bigger picture. "Um, lots of things. It's not important, Jared. It's over now."

"If you think I'm going to let this go, Melanie Stryder, than you don't know me as well as I thought you did." Jared was being serious, but there was still a smile in his voice, his eyes still crinkled at the edges in that adorable way of his.

I sighed in defeat, I could already feel the mortification of re-living these nightmares heating my face. I was thankful for the darkness of the room so Jared wouldn't see my blush. "Just… images. All different, but all the same, you know?"

"No, I don't know. Elaborate that, please." His voice was eerily calm.

"Just… when I was a Host. Images. My eyes. That storage space that Wanda and I slept in. The look on your face, in your eyes-"

"Oh, Mel," Jared whispered, finally understanding. "I'm sorry, Mel. I didn't…I wouldn't have… I just didn't understand. I wanted so much to believe you were in there, but it seemed impossible at the time. I was mad at Wanda for taking you away from me."

"I know, Jared. I have nothing against you. Not anymore."

"Not anymore?" He sounded shocked, it took all of my will power to not crack a smile and give myself away.

I made my face turn into a scowl as I pulled away from him. "You… I don't know how you did it, but you managed to make me as mad as I has ever been when I was trapped in my head. You were being such a thickheaded male, that I didn't know what to do to you. Wanda was probably getting scared at my hostility toward you, especially since she knew that I love you so much."

Jared's jaw dropped. He quickly regained composure, though. "Am I forgiven?" he asked with a small smile.

"I'll think about it," I said pursing my lips.

Jared looked serious. "Not funny, Melanie."  
"I'm not trying to be funny," I said, matching his facial expression as best I could.

He shoved me playfully. "Jerk," he muttered.

I shoved him back. "You're such a bigger jerk than me, Jared. There's no denying it, I'm an angel compared to you."

He shoved me, actually managing to roll me a little farther than his first push. I shoved back, pleased when he rolled, too. I jumped up into a sitting position and tackled him. He laughed and had me pinned under him in a matter of seconds.

"Take it back," he commanded, unable to hide his smile.

"Make me." I was grinning uncontrollably as well.

He grabbed my face, almost roughly, and began to kiss me fiercely. It felt like I was brushing my lips with an open flame, but it didn't hurt, it just filled me up with an odd aching in my chest. My hands automatically made their way up to his face, to stroke his perfect features, to tangle themselves in his soft hair.

And than, without giving him any hint of warning, I had him pinned under me now. He gasped a little in surprise, his beautiful eyes growing wide from the unexpected move I had just made. I grinned.

A dim light was filtering through the room now, and I could clearly see Jared now. His prominent cheekbones, long thin nose, and sharply squared off jaw were so familiar to me. His eyes, the beautiful color of clear liquid sienna, had only a human reflection when the light hit them, which would have meant the world to me back then. But now I know that he, Jared, means the world to me.

I ran my hands along his chest and down his muscular stomach. Jared shivered and caught my wrist as it descended. I positioned myself so that I was straddling him more conveniently. I straightened out my shorts and shirt. My mahogany hair, far past reason, I left alone.

"Melanie," Jared whispered, closing his eyes.

"You rang?" I whispered back, leaning in to press my lips to his once more.

"You're killing me," Jared whispered a few minutes later as I was kissing his neck. "You're really, truly, killing me."

"You're indestructible," I argued against the skin on his neck.

"You're not dying any time soon, okay?"

He was silent, stroking my arms absently, deep in thought.

I raised my head to look him levelly in the eye. "Okay?" I prompted, studying his face.

I was suddenly under Jared again. My legs automatically wrapping themselves around his waist, my arms around his neck. His eyes never broke from my gaze. "I promise," he said with a small smile as he began kissing me again.

"Excuse me," a small voice came from the entrance to the room.

Reluctantly, I pushed Jared away from me and sat up. "Sunny?" I asked, squinting to make sure I was right about the voice coming from the silhouette in the doorway. "Is that you?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't have bothered you, but Wanda and Ian were gone. I don't know where they went. I could leave, if I interrupted anything." Sunny shifted uncomfortably in the doorway.  
I wanted to tell her to get lost and pull Jared back on top of me, but the sound of Sunny's voice made me concerned. It sounded scared, sad, worried. I sighed and pulled myself into a better sitting position.

"Come on in, Sunny. What's bothering you?"

Sunny shuffled into the room awkwardly. She still wasn't used to any of us, I could tell. She was probably the most comfortable with Wanda and Kyle, and having to resort to us was probably the scariest thing she's ever had to do.

I patted the empty space on the bed for her to sit. Jared pulled me into his arms, not letting me out of his grip for more than a minute.

I smiled a small smile back at him, as if to apologize for breaking us up. He raised his eyebrows as if to question my sanity.

"So, what is it, Sunny?" I prompted, turning back to the hesitant girl on the mattress. The body that Sunny was inhabiting was a pretty person. I know from Kyle that her human name is Jodi. Jodi was tiny, but there was something about her that you could see she was older than you thought. Her springy black hair was falling beautifully around her face in dismay. She looked upset.

Her eyes filled with tears. "I- I just don't know what to think. Kyle… he asks me to- to look for… her."

"You mean Jodi?" Jared asked.

Sunny nodded. "He thinks that maybe… maybe I'm like her"- she nodded her head to me- "and I have two minds inside me. But I don't!" she almost wailed. "Jodi's gone. She's gone, and he won't give up."

"And you're worried that he's just using you," I guessed.

She nodded miserably.

I took a deep breath and tried to think about how I could phrase this so she would understand and not be upset. "Look, Sunny. Jodi… Kyle loved her. They were together before the invasion happened. Before he met you. He has no problem with you. But…" I was at a loss of words. "I've been in your position before, Sunny, or something like it. I know how you feel."

Jared's arms tightened around me. "Sunny. If you put yourself in Kyle's place, what would you be feeling?"

Sunny shook her head vigorously, as if Jared and I were trying to get her to change religions and she just wasn't letting up. "He could learn to love me," she whispered, more to herself than to us. "I know he can."

"If he can learn to love anyone-" I started, but the scared look in Sunny's eyes stopped me short. I rolled my eyes.

"I know he can learn to love you, Sunny. Just give it time," Jared said.

I bit my lip, why did I always have to be the bad guy? "And, Sunny? If he… doesn't stop looking for Jodi… don't get put out, okay? Maybe…" I didn't finish, I didn't want to, didn't need to.

Sunny nodded and stood. "Okay, thank you." She shuffled out of the room.

I let out my breath. "That was seriously random."

Jared didn't respond, just continued to hold me, staring at the door that Sunny left through, saying nothing.

"Hey," I said quietly, nudging him with my shoulder. "you okay?"

He snapped out of it, but not completely. I could see the distant look in his eyes. "I'm fine, Mel. Don't worry about me."

"I'm worried about what has you worried."

He rolled his eyes at me.

"I'm serious." I pulled out of his arms so that I could get a better look at him. "What's got your panties in a wad?" I asked.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Very mature," he mock approved.

"I try," I replied with a shrug. "So tell me."

"I was just thinking about the future." He stared off into the distance again.

"So, you're a psychic now?" I teased.

He sighed and pushed me off of the bed. I caught myself and rolled onto my feet. I threw a nearby shirt at him.

"Jerk!" I yelled.

He laughed. "I didn't mean to push so hard, Mel. I'm sorry. I was thinking of the future… wondering what was going to come. What about Jamie? What about Wanda and Ian? Sunny and Kyle? What about us?"

"What about us?" I shot back. "We're not leaving each other, if that's what you're getting at." I was angry now. Reaching my boiling point.

Jared shook his head and got off of the bed to stand in front of me.

"Never," he vowed. "Never, ever."

"Than don't think about that," I said, looking around for some clothes to change into for working. I hoped we didn't have to do soap today.

Jared turned me around and pulled me into his arms. His lips found mine immediately. I was bewildered, my arms pinned to my arms by Jared's blazing hot arms. The flat sun between us just got a few shades hotter. I let Jared's lips lead mine, vaguely trying to figure out what was going on.

"Jared," I gasped, pulling my mouth away from his. His mouth moved from my lips to the skin on my neck. "What- what the hell are you doing?"

He didn't respond, only continued to kiss up and down my neck. I felt trapped with my arms at my side, and finally managed to wriggle them free. I grabbed either side of Jared's face and lifted it up to face me.

He was panting, his eyes bright and alive. He smiled softly as the light in his eyes calmed and went back to normal. He kissed me once more, softly, and than pulled back. "I'm sorry, Mel. I was just  
thinking. I don't want to lose you."

"Okay, well-" I was out of words. "just… tell me next time you're going to attack me, okay?" I was breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath. "I mean, I love you and all, but some warning beforehand would be great."

He smiled, his eyes crinkling in that way that they do. "Sure thing, babe."  
I smiled and handed him a shirt. "We got work to do."

"If it's soap, I'm going to purposely break my fingers to get out of it." He began to pull on the navy blue T-shirt I handed him. I pulled on a white T-shirt and a new pair of yellow shorts. Jared was already out of his sweats and into a pair of jeans.

"If you intentionally hurt yourself, I will kill you, Jared Howe."

"Hi, Jared! Hi, Melanie!" Jamie came running up to us in his not-quite-so-boy-ish-anymore glory. His midnight hair growing out longer than I really cared for. I automatically reached out and pushed it out of his eyes.

"Ew, Mel! Stop! I'm not a baby!" Jamie backed away from me and over to Jared. "Hey, Jared!"

"Hey, Jamie," Jared said, clapping Jamie's back. I could tell he was trying not to wince at Jared's hit. I laughed and straitened up

"Eggs, bacon, and toast!" my Uncle Jeb yelled to Jared and I.

"My favorite," Jared said, leading me to where there were two plates waiting for us to eat. We got so much more delicacies lately since Wanda and Sunny came into the picture. Speaking of which…

"Hi, guys," Wanda said walking up to us with a forever faithful Ian at her side.

"Hey, Wanda, Ian," I said, giving a nod to each. "What have you two been up to, Sunny said she couldn't find you this morning."

"We were in the washroom," Ian answered, smiling when Wanda blushed violently.

Wanda looked so… vulnerable in her new Host. She was tiny, short as well as small boned. Her strawberry blonde hair looking super silky today, as it always does. Her freckles just put the cherry on top. I must say, we did a pretty good job picking out a new Host for our little friend Wanderer.

Wanda was looking at me as if she were studying my features as well. Maybe it was weird for her seeing me. Wanda and I share a special bond, you could say. I mean, after all, we did share my body at one time.

Where Wanda was small and fragile, I was strong and tall. Where she had strawberry blonde silk hair, I had mahogany locks. We differed in so many ways, yet we both grew to be the same somehow. Ian and Jared were in a conversation now, I had just noticed. Ian looked like his twin brother, Kyle, except Ian actually had a strait, Greek nose. Kyle's is forever crooked from being broken so many times.

I mean, he just asks for a punch in the face, I swear.

Ian had dark hair, much like Jamie's, and deep blue eyes. He was big and muscular, like his brother, even like Jared, kind of.

Ian was staring back at me now, and I was once again pulled into that crevice in my heart that will forever be damaged from when Wanda was in my body. Wanda felt for Ian, like I felt for Jared, and it… changed the four of us, though we would never admit it. We were all emotionally distressed in some way.

"Well," Jared said, breaking me out of my trance. "what do you think?"

"About what?"

He sighed. "Nothing."

"A raid," Ian said. "We need to go on a raid, and we really need Jared."

I nodded, of course they did. Next to the Souls, Jared was the best when it came to going on raids. "Okay, that's fine. When are we leaving?" I asked.  
Jared tensed. "We?" he echoed in disbelief.

I sighed. "Jared, you're going to have to get used to the fact that I'm not leaving you, ever again. Last time when we both said we would take care of ourselves…" I shook my head at the memories. "I'm going."

Jared sighed. "I know. I don't want to leave you either, but you would be so much safer here. Nothing would happen-"

I was in his arms before he could say the rest. "Anything could happen, Jared. I'm not staying here without you. I'm going."

"You know if this was anyone but you, I would be calling you crazy and yelling." Jared wrapped his arms around me. "Okay, okay, you can come. But please, Mel, I don't want you getting hurt-"

"I'm not that self-destructive, Jared."

Jared kissed my head. "Okay, lets eat."

"Where to?" Wanda asked from the driver's seat. Ian insisted on taking the front with her. Sunny and Kyle were in the truck behind us, waiting for our lead.

I was in Jared's arms in the backseat, my head resting wearily on his chest. "Some place with a bed would be nice…" I said, closing my eyes.

Jared stroked my arms, setting them on invisible fire.

Wanda pulled into a local hotel parking lot and got out. "I'll be right back," she promised as she walked with a new found confidence into the hotel's lobby. I was so proud of the courage that she had found since she came into me as a Host.

A few minutes later she came back. She tossed a room key to Jared and handed one to Ian. She walked back to Kyle's truck to hand him one. We all got out of the small silver car and stretched. I was so stiff from sitting in a car for the good part of the day. We had gone a long way to raid, all the way to Kansas.

We grabbed our bags of clothing from the cars and headed up to our hotel rooms. The hotel was nice, compared to the cave we were currently hiding in. Don't get me wrong, the cave that Jeb found had class, but sometimes I required something… light.

Jared and I arrived at our room and walked in. There was one queen bed, all white and fluffy and inviting. I threw my bag down and turned to Jared. He had that eternal smile on his face as he set his bag down as well.

"Not to shabby, eh?" he asked, looking around the room.

"It has a microwave," I pointed out. "This place is my sanctuary."

Jared laughed and shook his head. "Some of the things you say amaze me, Mel."

I smiled and picked up a bag. "I'm going to take a shower. Try to find something good on TV, will you?" I asked as I walked into the bathroom.

"Impossible, but I'll try," I heard Jared say before I closed the door.

I needed that shower horribly. My hair was finally cooperating with me for the time. I unzipped the bag and than realized that I had taken Jared's bag into the bathroom instead of mine. Oh, well. He wont mind. I threw on a pair of his boxers and one of his T-shirts.

Jared looked me up and down when I walked out of the bathroom. "Nice," he finally said casually, making room for me on the bed.

"I figured I would see if I could pull off the look," I replied just as casually crawling into the bed next to him. I was immediately pulled into his arms. I rested my head on his chest once more, perfectly at ease. "Did you find anything good on TV?"

"Ugh," was all Jared said to that.

The movie playing at the time seemed to be a Romance film, from what I gathered from it. Anyway, it was at the ending, and the happy couple were walking hand and hand into the sunset, like any alien movie would end.

"Happy endings are overrated," I mumbled.

Jared laughed at that. "Is that what you think? That there's no hope?"

I sighed. "No. I was just being pessimistic."

He was suddenly kissing me again. I laughed against his lips. "Didn't we agree to warning me before you attack?" I asked as Jared's arms wrapped around me.

"Oops. I'm sorry, Mel. You just smell really good."

"Thanks?" I said. Was that the only reason he was kissing me?

"And your skin is really soft," he added, tracing random patterns on my legs, drawing fire on my skin. "and you look so… sexy in my clothes."

"Right," I said with a light laugh. Jared said nothing, just began to kiss my jaw line, my neck, my collar bone. His thumbs were stroking my hipbones, moving my shirt up so that his thumbs were flaming on my bare skin. His hands began to trail up, lifting my shirt with them. He lifted it up all the way to the bottom of my ribcage, and than stopped.

I pulled his mouth to mine with a fierce need. He groaned when my hands snaked under his shirt and stroked the skin under there. I gave up on trying to keep my cool, and just pulled Jared's shirt all the way off.

**a/n: So tell me what you think so far! I hope you guys like it! There's going to be looootttss of drama/action coming up next chapter! So Read and Review!**

**Much appreciated!**

**Peace!**


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n: hi, guys.. just a warning. Things get a little lemony here. Not much, but I still consider it a lemon!But I hope you still enjoy this next chapter!**

The first night I actually spent with Jared was the night when I was finally back in my own body.

Jared had made me eat and drink something, and I was surprised to find how hungry and thirsty I was. When we were done, Jared took me by the hand, refusing to refrain from touching me since I came back.  
I was busy staring at the fingers of my free hand. I kept wiggling them, telling them which way to go, when to go. It was weird that I had this control on them, not anyone else. I wasn't a prisoner in my mind anymore.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Jared asked, staring pointedly at my constantly flexing fingers.

I shrugged and answered simply, "Because I can."

Jared pulled me to a stop. I just realized that we were outside of Jared's room. I thought of sharing a bed with him and blushed.

"Mel," Jared whispered into my ear, "I missed you so much. You have no idea."

"I missed you too," I whispered back, putting all of my meaning into those words.

He turned his head and kissed me. Out of habit, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me. I would never take one of Jared Howe's kisses for granted anymore. I had lived too long without them.

Jared's hands began to burn their way along the bare skin underneath my shirt. It shocked me into life, sending my heart racing and wanting him even more than I ever have. I clutched him closer. We opened up the "door" to Jared's room and I about screamed.

"Hey, guys!" Jamie said excitedly. "What took you so long? Did you really eat that much, Mel? Anyway, we have a lot of catching up to do!"

Jared shook his head at Jamie, telling him that this was not a good idea. "This isn't a good time, Jamie."

Jamie furrowed his brow, and than his eyebrows shot up, as if a light bulb clicked on over his dark head. "Oh." he got up and made a disgusted face. "I guess… I'm going to sleep in Ian's room than." He gave us one last look and than left.

"I feel kind of bad," I whispered once he was gone.

Jared raised an eyebrow. "Do you?" he asked, beginning to pull away.

"Not that bad," I gasped, pulling him back to me.

Jared laughed. "Good." He began to kiss me again.

My legs hit the back of the mattress on the ground, and I fell backwards onto it, unintentionally bringing Jared down with me. He seemed to take encouragement from that movement though, because his hands held me tighter, releasing me only to remove his shirt. His long fingers went for my shirt next.

"Jared," I said against his lips. "I… we… both agreed that we didn't want… a kid…" I was panting, but I hoped that he understood what I was saying.

Jared began kissing along my neck and shoulders, succeeding in taking my shirt off as I was talking. "When I was gone, I was thinking about when I told you that 'we had time' to do this… and than I lost you. I repeated that whole night in my head over and over, torturing myself with it. But don't worry, Mel. I brought… what we need."

I sighed in relief and began to kiss Jared back.

He pushed me back farther on to the bed, kissing me with a passion I hadn't seen in him for a very long time. His hands stroked my bare stomach, leaving trails of fire on it. I shivered and finally surrendered to the first of the many good nights I had shared with Jared Howe.

It was cold. That was my first thought when I woke up.

I sat up and sleepily looked around. I found my bag sitting open on the ground next to me. I pulled out a tank top and a pair of underwear. I pulled them on and than turned to see that Jared was out of the bed and in the shower.

I got out of the bed and stretched. I wished Jared was out here with me. It was hard being separated from him, especially after a night like that. My heart picked up a beat thinking about all of the nights like that.

The bathroom door opened and Jared walked out in his boxers. He smiled at me. "Good morning," he said. "How-"

But he never finished. I jumped on to him and kissed him. He caught me and held me up, responding to my intensity. I wrapped my arms and my legs around him, not going to let go for a second.

There was a timid rap on the door. "Melanie?" I heard Sunny call from the other side of the door. "Melanie are you awake? Can I come in?"

I rolled my eyes and loosened my hold on Jared. He looked annoyed. "What does she always want from us?"

I shrugged. "Go easy on her," I said lighthearted, but I was just as annoyed. I grabbed a pair of sweats on my way to the door and pulled them on.

Jared was right behind me, already in jeans, tugging a shirt over his head. I unlocked the door and opened it up.

Sunny smiled shyly at us. "Hi."

I sighed. "Hi, Sunny. Come on in." I opened the door more and motioned for her to step inside.

"This will only take a second, I promise," Sunny said quickly, as if sensing that she ruined the mood in this hotel room. "I was going to Wanda and Ian's room… but they were… busy."

My eyes widened. I did _not_ need to know that.

"I heard it," she added as if she needed to explain.

"Alright," I said quickly, cutting her off. "what's up, Sunny?"

She sighed. "Kyle… he's been acting weird."

"When isn't he?" Jared asked. I tried to hide my smile.

Sunny glared at him. "Why does everyone say that about him? It's not like he's tried to kill any of you guys."

I blinked a few times, letting her words sink in. "Did he tell you that?" I asked through my teeth. The memories were all too vivid, even if it was Wanda controlling my body and not me, I was still in there to feel the pain of Kyle trying to kill me.

"No. But I know Kyle enough to-"

"Just tell me what you came in here for, Sunny," I said before she said something she would really regret.

She looked startled. "I just… am worried about Kyle. It's like he doesn't want to talk to me anymore. It's like he's pushing me away from him."

I sighed. "Maybe he just needs some space, Sunny. Maybe… he just needs time."

"Are you saying he doesn't want me?" Sunny asked, appalled.

"I don't know what to say, Sunny. I don't talk to Kyle that much. We never really got off on a good start." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "But, I'm not saying what you would want to hear, okay? You came to me, and I'm giving it to you strait."

Sunny nodded, looking… tired. "I see. Thank you, Melanie."

She slowly walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

I leaned back against the wall and slid to the floor.

Jared crouched down next to me, stroking my arms, my face, my hair. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly, his gold flecked eyes staring into mine with that intensity that he doesn't even know he has.

"I'm just… tired. I'm tired of everyone thinking that I'm the group therapist or something, Jared. It's wearing me out. And I don't know what to say to Sunny. I've been there before… but I cant tell her."

Jared pulled me into a hug. "Tell her what?"

"When I was a Host. When Wanda was in my body… you treated me different. You didn't know I was in there, but you wouldn't let anyone touch me, because it was my body… and I think that's what's going on with Kyle. You would never love Wanda more than me"- I pulled back to look at him- "right?"

"Right."

"But it was my body she was in, so you were willing to protect her. I think that's what's going on. He loves Sunny, sure. But he's not in love with her."

Jared nodded. "I see what you mean."

I couldn't be too sure, but I was pretty sure that I heard a quiet sob coming from the other side of the door. I turned my head to see that Sunny had not closed the door all the way; she had heard every word that I said.

"Sunny-" Jared started, looking just as shocked as I felt.

Sunny shook her head and walked out of the room.

I sighed. "Great. Now Sunny hates me. I hope there wont be a club or anything," I said, getting up off of the floor and looking for some decent clothes to put on for raiding.

"No one hates you, Mel. We all love you," Jared argued, handing me my favorite pair of shorts and a shirt.

I smiled and kissed him, my way of thanking him.

"Mel?"

That was the first thing that came into my consciousness. That voice…

"Mel, you have to wake up now, okay? Mel?"

Jared. I could have known that voice from anywhere. My Jared. My love.

But I felt weird. Like I had just come through layers and layers of water, and I had just broken surface. I was exhausted. I didn't want to open my eyes, not yet. Someone grabbed my hand, and with it came a burning sensation; I knew it was Jared.

_Wanda, tell Jared that I'm fine and to get a life_, I told Wanda. She hadn't said anything, but I bet she wanted to sleep just as much as I did. She was probably just as annoyed as I was.

No reply.

_Wanda?_ I was getting anxious now. Wanda had ignored me before, but I had always heard her thoughts. I was in the same body as her, for crying out loud! _Wanda if you've found some way to tune me out, it isn't funny-_

And than it hit me. Wanda was gone. I remembered now. She had sacrificed herself for me, so that I could have my body back. We had gotten so close, though. We were practically… sisters. Probably closer. I had just lost my sister.

"Melanie Stryder! Wake up!"

_Jared, I'm fine. Just shut up for a second, I'm having a moment!_ I wanted to shout at him, but it felt too odd having control over my body. It felt so vacant. Oh, Wanda!

"Doc! What's going on?" I heard Jared call anxiously away from me. Then I felt his fiery touch on my cheek, wiping at it. "Why is shecrying? Does this mean she's conscious! Mel? Mel, baby?"

Wanda wasn't here to control my body, to do everything for me. As a test, I moved my finger, seeing if I really could control my body by myself. It worked- it worked! My finger curled. I could move! I just realized that Doc and Jared were having a conversation while I was making my grand discovery. I tuned my ears in to listen to what they were saying. I felt a new sense of power that I could do it, a power that I had taken for granted until now.

"It's good that she's crying, right?" Jared sounded on the verge of hysteria. He would never show this kind of emotion, ever. This was a new side of Jared that he was showing Doc, I could tell. "It means that she's alive!"

"I just don't know why she isn't… maybe we should just give her more time."

"But she's okay, right? Right, Doc?"

I couldn't take it anymore. Jared's voice, I needed to see him for myself. Finding my eyelids was harder than I expected, I began to panic. "Jared?" I asked, wondering if they had glued my eyes shut, or something.

I probably didn't say it loudly, but Jared heard me.

"Mel, baby? Oh, Mel! I'm right here. I'm here. I love you."

That gave me enough power to wrench my eyelids back, to see if Jared really was there, or if this was just some sick dream of mine. The room was dark, but I closed my eyes again immediately, anyway.

I opened them once more and the first thing I saw was Jared. He looked beautiful, more real than he had been to me in… could it really have been one year? His eyes were glassy with tears threatening to spill over, but despite the tears, he looked happy.

"Hi," I said with what I assumed was to be a smile.

I was suddenly in Jared's arms. "Don't you ever do that to me again, Melanie. Do you hear me? Ever." I felt his tears on the back of my neck and shoulders.

I buried my face into his stone-hard chest and sobbed. "Jared, Jared, Jared…" was all I could say for a while. Finally I switched to repeating "I love you," over and over again. I was still sobbing.

When I finally calmed down, I took my head out of Jared's shirt and looked around. It was just Doc, Jared, Ian, Kyle, Sunny, and I in the hospital room. Kyle was sleeping with his cot pushed up next to Sunny's.

I looked at Ian. "I'm sorry," I whispered. He would never know how sorry I would be. He probably thought that I hated Wanda and made her give up my body. "Ian… I loved her too. She was like a sister to me.

You need to know that I tried to stop her-"

Ian cut me off. "I know."

I began sobbing again. "Oh, God. You hate me, don't you? She's dead… and I'm not. Wanda…."

"Mel, look at me," Jared said as I buried my face into my hands and began to cry again.

The guilt was consuming me. Wanda was gone because of me. Everyone probably would have rather had Wanda stay than me. She was more tolerable. Even Jared… I thought about what he said to her before she went to go see Doc and cried harder. "Oh, Wanda."

"Melanie," Jared almost growled and pulled my face up to meet his. "Wanda is still here. She's not dead, and she's not going anywhere."

I sniffled. "What?" I whispered. I looked over at Ian for confirmation, noticing how he was sitting away from everyone, cradling what seemed to be a- cryotank! "Is that Wanda?" I asked, looking at the small container, with the dull red blinking light.

"We're finding her a new host. We all realized that we couldn't live without Wanda here, so Jamie decided that we should get her a new host."

"But how did you-"

"I overheard Wanda and Doc talking, and I just… couldn't let that happen."

Doc snorted. "It couldn't happen for me either. I'm not fond of life or death situations, especially with Jared holding the knife."

I looked at Jared.

Jared was looking away. "Like I said, I couldn't let it happen."

I ignored the emotion that I heard in his voice when he said that.

"So, Wanda is staying?" I asked.

Jared nodded.

A perfect happy ending. "I love you, Jared Howe. Did you know that?"

Jared smiled. "Yeah, I think you might have mentioned it." He leaned in and kissed me. Not like any of the other times we had kissed. This was gentle, but intense. A whole year's worth of kisses.

"Mel!"

I pulled away from Jared to see Jamie. He looked like such a little kid right now. He looked eager, yet scared at the same time. "Mel?" he asked again, quietly.

"The one and only," I replied with a smile.

He sprinted across the room and threw himself into my arms. I hugged him back, putting all of my love into it. Trying to make up for all of those times that I wasn't there to hug him when he needed it. And no matter what was happening outside of this cave, out in the real world, this was the happiest I had been in all of my life. Everything was perfect now.

I was thrown back into consciousness with a violent lurch. I gasped as my eyes flew open and I tried to catch myself before flying into the front seat where Ian and Wanda sat.

"What the-" Jared said as he too fell forward back from sleep. He caught himself almost immediately, and than steadied me. "Wanda, what was that for?"

Wanda blushed a little. I envied how pretty it made her look when she did it. "I- I missed my turn. I wasn't paying attention. I'm sorry."

Ian stroked her cheek reassuringly, and she seemed to calm right away.

"So, where are we going now?" I asked, trying to shake the sleepiness out of my head. I tried to remember what we were doing today. "This is our last stop, right?"

Ian nodded. "Unless we see anything on the way home, than yeah."

Wanda pulled into the parking lot of a huge grocery store. It looked more like a mall than a grocery store, actually. My eyes widened.

"This place could stock us for a life time," I said in amazement.

"Pretty much, yeah," Ian said and Wanda pulled into a parking space.

For someone who had never really driven much before, Wanda was becoming a perfectionist behind the wheel. "Sunny and I will go in, you guys hang tight, okay?" She sounded so motherly when she said that. I smiled at her, proud that I knew someone as great as Wanderer. She really was something.

After a few minutes of complete and total silence in the car, Jared stirred. "I don't know about you guys, but I have to go to the bathroom."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't," I replied.

"I do," Ian agreed with Jared. "I bet we could make it to the bathroom and back without getting caught." He opened the car door and got out, stretching as he did. Jared opened up his car door as well,kissing me before he got out.

"Stay safe," he whispered to me, tucking my hair behind my ear.

"Don't get caught," I whispered back.

"I'm indestructible, remember?" he reminded me with that gorgeous smile of his.

When the two boys were gone, I began to look around the parking lot. It wasn't crowded, for as big as the store was. There was a piece of junk van parked in a handicapped spot, though I was pretty sure that there wasn't a handicapped driver that owned the car. Odd. Aliens always followed the rules. Except for the few rogue ones, like Wanda. Very, very rare.

And than something caught my eye.

Or should I say someone. It was a man. He looked scruffy, like he had been living out of his car, and he was pacing, muttering to himself. Had an alien gone crazy? He walked past the car I was in, the sun hitting him directly in the face .And that's when I realized what was really going on.

When the sun hit that man's face, there was nothing but a human reflection from his eyes. A human… could it be! Without thinking, I jumped out of the car and followed after the man. I just had to see for myself. Maybe we could take him back to the caves with us. Had I just found another human!

"Hey!" I called to the man, unable to stop myself. "Hey, you! Wait up!"

The man stopped and turned. We were at the back of the parking lot by now. Hidden in an alley between two other buildings across the lot. The darkness made him seem scarier than the man was, but, yes, he was human.

"You're-" I started, but the man cut me off.

"You!" he said, either excitedly or angrily, I couldn't tell. "You're human! You're a human woman!"

"Guilty," I said, trying to put my finger on something that was off about this man. Why was that little voice inside of my head telling me to runrunrun!

"You must come with me!" the man said, walking forward and grabbing my arms roughly. "You must come with me and we shall start an army!"

"An army?" I asked, confusion conquering the fear for the moment. "You have enough humans with you to start an army?" Wow, not even we had that man shook his head. "No," he replied.

"We shall make an army, woman."

Curiosity dissolved, leaving only cold blooded fear behind. My throat went dry, but I forced myself to talk anyway. "I don't think so-"

"We must!" he insisted, gripping my arms tighter and leading me somewhere in the parking lot. I tried pulling away from his vice tight grip, all to no avail.

"Let me go," I pleaded. Why, oh why was I stupid enough to follow a complete stranger around? Fear coiled in the pit of my stomach, making me nauseous. "Please, just let me go!"

The man shook his head. "No! You are the last human woman, I am the last human man. This is destiny!"

We were back at the piece of junk van by now, and he was opening up the rear door, pushing me in. I wondered if I should make any commotion to draw attention to ourselves. If an alien came over to sort things out, we were both as good as dead.

He pushed me back roughly on the backseat, closing the door behind him. Anger burned inside of me. I was going to kill this psycho. I kicked him backwards with as much force as I could, throwing him back into the side of the van.

He growled and hit me. I didn't feel anything at first, but than the pain slowly started to increase. I bit my lip to suppress a scream. Tears welled in my eyes, but I fought them back viciously.

"Now, hold still," he commanded.

"Go to hell," I shot back, kicking him once more, with everything that I had, and than threw myself toward the opposite door, throwing it open and forcing myself out as fast as I could manage.

A pair of unfamiliar large hands wrapped themselves around the tops of my arms and pulled me away from the van. I tried to fight them off, fearing that it was a seeker. I wasn't going to give myself as a host again anytime soon.

"It's me, Mel!" Kyle hissed.

"Kyle?" I asked, turning around to look at him. "Oh my God, Kyle! How did-"

"I saw you following that guy, and than I lost track of you, and than I saw you throw yourself out of the truck. What the hell is wrong with you, Mel? You could have been killed!"

"He's human, Kyle! I just thought that maybe-"

"That maybe he was sane?" Kyle spat. "Guess again, Mel."

I shook my head quickly. "I guess I wasn't thinking-"

"No, you weren't thinking," Kyle said before I could finish.

Everyone else had found us by than. Wanda looked worried, Sunny looked terrified, Ian looked concerned, and Jared looked furious. I didn't like any of their facial expressions right now.

"Wanda, Sunny," I addressed the two souls as casually as I could. "I would go back to the car if I were you." I didn't need to say any more. Sunny nodded and started walking off toward the car. Wanda stayed and stared at me, trying to muster up every ounce of courage she had, by the looks of it. I shook my head at her. She gave up and walked away.

"Now you go back to the car, Mel," Jared commanded.

I shook my head. "This is my fault, I should handle it," I argued, standing my ground. I wasn't going to let Jared out of my sight, no matter how long.

"Go," Jared said in that stern voice that he hardly ever used with me. It was times like this when I found myself thinking of how well behaved his kids would be out of respect for him when he was like this.

"She's not going anywhere," the man said, coming out of his car, holding something up and pointing it toward my chest. An old fashioned hand gun. I was so used to seeing the new-and-improved Glocks the Souls had now that it took me a few seconds to register what a lethal weapon he was aiming at me.

Jared made a move to step in front of me, but the man just cocked the gun.

"One more step and you can be guaranteed not reaching her in time."

"You wouldn't shoot her," Jared said, suspicion coloring his tone. "She's what you want; you wouldn't kill her."

The man shrugged. "My own safety is more important than hers. If you wont let me have her, than no one will."

"There's no point to any of this," Ian cut in, being his forever-kind self. "Lets just go our separate ways and pretend none of this ever  
happened. Agreed?"

The man shook his head, gun still aimed strait at my chest. "First off, I cant trust you; and second off, you men aren't using her properly, I will."

"Aren't using me properly?" I objected, anger covering up my common sense.

The man must not have noticed how offended I was. "A child bearer," he explained, as if he were bored with this whole situation. "Apparently you aren't thinking about the future here, and aren't taking the actions necessary to save the human race."

I looked back at Jared, wondering what to do next.

"Come over here, woman," the man commanded, gun being held steady.

I took a step forward, but Jared grabbed my hand. I didn't look back at him, I knew what he was thinking, what we all had planned in our minds. I gave his hand a small squeeze to make him know that I understood. We had all practiced this hundreds of times in about every situation that we could get into on a raid, this being one of them.

Jared released my hand and I walked until I was almost touching the man's gun. I looked into his eyes, knowing that deep down, there was some sanity there, but his survival instincts had driven him mad.

The man un-cocked his gun, setting the plan into motion.

I locked all of my muscles together and fell strait backwards. The man let out a startled cry, but I ignored it.

Jared caught me in his arms and we both threw ourselves behind a nearby car for safety. Once we were there, Jared pulled me into his arms and locked me in his stone grip. I turned and buried my face into his neck. I was scared, more than scared. But I still didn't cry. I gripped onto the fabric of Jared's T-shirt as tightly as possible to try to control my shaking.

Jared caressed my hair and kept me locked in that position, not wanting me to go anywhere. I didn't want to go anywhere. I heard the struggles of the now fighting men, and than I heard the worst possible sound ever.

A gun shot.

I tried to break free of Jared's grasp to see if anyone had gotten hit, but he wouldn't ease his vice tight grip on me. But what if it was Ian? Oh, Wanda would kill me if it was Ian. Not in the literal sense, but I would know deep down that she would blame his death on me.

Please don't let anyone be dead!

**a/n: alrightty, that's that! Tell me what you guys think so far! Reviews are much appreciated!(: **

**Peace!  
**


End file.
